Hating the Confederate Flag

Appalachia has a way of making you hate things that you once thought were good. Like the Confederate flag. Yes, I know, the Confederate States of America never used it as a flag, it was the naval ensign. I've never figured out why they use the flag they do and not the correct one and no one seems to know how using the naval ensign got started.

When I first moved to the southern parts of America, I really liked seeing the Confederate flag flying. It was a sign of small government, local control, take pride in your culture people. It was a good thing. Then I moved to Appalachia, which in general supported the North during the war. Here the flag means illiterate, inbred, meth dealer, who thinks they can do whatever they want because "they have rahts". Here the flag is used to justify poor, often illegal behavior. Interestingly, in other parts of the south, the Confederate flag was accepted by just about everyone, in Appalachia, only the lower classes accept its use. There is nothing good about the Confederate flag as it is used in Appalachia.

Of course, I now feel the same about the Christianity and "rahts", two things I thought were very good before seeing what hillbillies have done to them. I guess the moral of the story is, no matter how good something is, hillbillies will find a way to fuck it up.

Corrupt County Officials

Last weekend one of my neighbors decided to do some yard clearing, which of course included burning everything. Kentucky allows the burning of yard trash, such as leaves and tree branches, but the trash burning here doesn't seem to fall into that category. After an hour of this I called the county who sent someone from the fire department out who reported that it was just yard waste. Of course the neighbors did change their behavior, they moved to burning at night when pictures couldn't be taken.

 

 

So, for an entire weekend a pall of burning plastic and chemicals hung over the neighborhood, and every call to the fire department resulted in a "yard trash" report. Almost to a person, the people here that I've told about this have told me that the fire department didn't want to annoy their suppliers. I don't know if I'd go that far, preferring to think that it was just gross incompetence, but this county did have a large pot farm with it's own helipad operating on a main road, just a few miles from the courthouse and no one seemed to notice, so I guess it is possible. This neighborhood does have a reputation as the go to place for all your chemical needs.

 

 

I'm still wondering why a 3 day burn, in that location, didn't result in a trailer fire. I can't deny it. I was really hoping for one. Why is God so insistent on protecting the stupid?

 

Paranoia, part 2

Last weekend I had the privilege of supervising the ACT test for a group of aspiring college students. The ACT has a group of students called talent search candidates. These are basically talented middle school students. They are exempt from the photo ID requirement of the ACT but they do need to bring in an official talent search letter.

This time, for some odd reason, only about 25% had this letter. Thankfully, they all had photo ID's or it would have gone badly. A lot of them did have a bunch of useless paperwork from their schools. It makes one wonder. I've been told repeatedly that I don't belong here and that the teachers from the local high school can and should take over the classes at the local community college. The argument being that the pass rates would be much higher. Admittedly, not that many people are saying that, but it doesn't take many when you see the local high school playing nasty games in order to keep the students counted as theirs so that they don't risk their monies.

It all leads one to question whether this paperwork mix up was just that, or whether there was more behind it. It probably was a completely innocent mix up, but... Since the school board does have a corruption lawsuit going right now

http://clintonnews.net/pages/?p=14729

and I've seen them do worse in their quest for educational hegemony in the county, it makes one wonder. That's the worst part about this place. It makes one hopelessly paranoid.

Ladies First?

An amazing sight met my eyes the other day. I saw a group of middle school students returning from a field trip. The first thing that I thought was strange was that there was a boy's bus and a girl's bus. Okay, I get the fact that there is a problem with boys and girls being together around here, there's a problem with teen pregnancy, and the teachers are not even remotely effective at controlling the students.

As an aside, a while back I wrote about a fight during the college fair at the local high school. Apparently, it was broken up by the recruiter from Western Kentucky University, not any of the teachers or employees. Way to go Western. Facepalm for Clinton County High School. But I digress...

With this lack of leadership, it's not surprising that they keep the boys and girls separate. What was amazing was that the boys bus arrived first, but the boys were kept on the bus until the girls bus arrived and ALL of the girls got off. Ladies first I guess. I still don't know whether to be amused or appalled at this blatant display of sexism. It wouldn't be so bad, but many women here merge it with an, I am woman hear me roar attitude, that relegates men to second place, unless they're cute, or possess a trait they find social value in. I still remember a student in one of my classes telling me that she shouldn't have to listen to me because no man ever knew what he was talking about and if her high school math teacher (a woman) told her that I was wrong, then that was that.  Okay, that one was just plain amusing, anyone with a brain should have been able to see what was going to happen with that one, but at least she didn't have to listen to any man.

And then they wonder why the boys are doing so badly academically. If I always came last, except when I was playing on the football team, I'd give up too.

Paranoia

A couple of days ago, a windstorm knocked one of my trees down. Unfortunately, part of it fell in a neighbor's yard. Not much, just a few feet over the boundary line. In a normal world, I'd have just gone out and moved it. Unfortunately, I don't live in a normal world, I live in Appalachia. This particular neighbor has a German Shepard which he lets run free and uses his position in the local law enforcement community to bully others. In that situation, I just left the tree there until I happened to have company, so that I could have witnesses to anything that transpired. That got me thinking how totally horrible life in Appalachia is. Imagine, feeling that you need that level or paranoia in order to survive. It's a lot worse when I need to deal with my welfare king/drug dealer neighbors.

I'm not the only one who feels this of course. I just seem to be the only one who will put it to words and admit it. When I first moved here, I noticed a look in everyone's eyes. They weren't a look that I'd ever seen in an American's eyes before. I'd seen that look before in East Europeans right after communism fell. That look that said they lived in constant fear. Fortunately for the East Europeans, that look seems to have vanished from their countenances. Unfortunately, that look is alive and well in Appalachia.

Is Iceland Right?

Iceland has an approved list of children's names. You have to stick to the list. A bit restrictive for freedom loving Americans, but do they have a point?

While driving through one of the local counties, I noticed a billboard that listed the local insurance agents name as Lindsey Wilson. At first glance, there's nothing wrong with that name. It's a pretty name, and one you'd never think twice about, until you realize that the local college is named Lindsey Wilson College. Did she move here, or was she subjected to a childhood of having the same name as the local college? It would be interesting to know if she went there, but it would probably be rude to call up and ask.